Hack journalism by the Toledo Blade - February 2015

Last fall, a Woodville police officer ruthlessly shot a dog that caused no harm.

So the Blade is now attacking the town by writing multiple stories about Woodville being a speed trap, and in each activist story, the Blade mentions the dog being shot.

Downtown Woodville, Ohio has been well-known as a speed trap for many years. Twenty years ago, I got a speeding ticket in downtown Woodville, late at night on a Sunday night while returning home from a Cleveland Browns playoff game loss.




my Feb 15, 2015 tt comment in the following thread:
http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/186437/The_latest_on_the_Red_Light_Cameras


From Burris's pathetic rant:

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... a local policeman shot a dog named Moses. 
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From yesterday's Blade op-ed titled "Ticket trap":http://www.toledoblade.com/Featured-Editorial-Home/2015/02/14/Ticket-trap.html

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... the officer shot the dog ...
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JRB loves dogs. That's great. But this crusade against Woodville is demented journalism at best.

More from yesterday's op-ed:

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Woodville officials are using speeding tickets primarily to raise revenue ...
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As others have mentioned, that's what Toledo is doing with its gotcha traffic enforcement cameras. It has never been about safety with the cameras. The cameras provide a source of revenue that's budgeted by the city. Toledo doesn't want safe drivers. The city would have a budget hole to fill if everyone started driving safely in the camera areas.

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The Village of Woodville has abused northwest Ohio motorists for far too long ...
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So has Toledo with its cameras and especially with its f*cked up roads.

If the Blade truly wanted to help, it should focus all its energies on a Toledo issue. One single issue for 2015.

bq. ++Fix the f*cking roads++

You will do better in Toledo if the f*cking roads are fixed.

More from yesterday's op-ed:

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If a boycott of the town’s businesses is needed finally to get the attention of its public officials, so be it.
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It's definitely loony bin time for the Blade editorial board. A boycott? Who participates in the boycott campaign? Elmore residents?

What's lost on Burris and the other Blade writers who are engaged in this dog-shit journalism is how everyone else is laughing in mocking fashion at the Blade.

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Highlighted excerpts from a Nov 29, 2014 Toledo Blade op-ed titled "Maintain traffic cameras":https://www.toledoblade.com/Opinion/2014/11/29/Maintain-traffic-cameras.html

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Since 2002, the first full year these cameras were used in Toledo, statistics show that they have *made streets safer* and reduced traffic violations and deaths.
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Then I claim that the Woodville police are making their streets safer by enforcing their posted speed limits.

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Though *unpopular among lawbreaking motorists,* the cameras — with a few notorious exceptions, in which they have been used as *revenue-raising devices* [Toledo] — are *valuable law-enforcement tools.*
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Getting busted for speeding in Woodville is also unpopular among lawbreaking motorists. I know because I got busted for speeding through downtown Woodville late on a Sunday night 20 years ago. I didn't pay attention to the multiple, step-down speed limits when entering Woodville.

So based upon my first-hand experience, I claim that the Woodville police are a valuable law-enforcement tool.

It seems like this hack, anti-Woodville journalism by the Blade may endanger the lives of Woodville residents if the police are prohibited from keeping their downtown safe. Is the Blade endorsing the idea of dangerous, lawbreaking driving in Woodville?

Toledo politicians have admitted in the past that the city is dependent upon the revenue generated by traffic enforcement cameras, which obviously means that the cameras are not meant for safety.

People who don't mind Toledo's revenue-generating cams will suggest things like, _"Don't speed or don't run a red light if you don't want to be caught."_  Got it. Obey the laws.

Then ditto for downtown Woodville. Signs are posted. If motorists don't want to receive a speeding ticket, then they should pay attention to the signs and don't speed. Obey the law. Simple. 

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The end of red-light and speed-enforcement cameras would *endanger the safety and lives* of Ohio motorists. The cameras reduce the number of accidents and fatalities at the intersections where they are placed. This *important public safety tool* should not be eliminated.
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I'll claim that the same thing applies to Woodville's police department. They are concerned about the safety of the town's  citizens. If ticketing excessively can save just one life, then it's a great program. 

To play along with the absurd thinking of the Blade editorial board, if you oppose the actions of the Woodville police, then you support death to Woodville citizens. You endorse dangerous driving that could plaster kids who are crossing the street on their way to school. Shame on you. You mutilator. 


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my feb 17, 2015 tt comment

bq. _"... what do we label Ottawa Hills, known also for having asshole cops that give lots of tickets and shoot and paralyze motorcyclists?"_

Since Burris lives in Ottawa Hills,  he could provide a first-hand account, Brian Williams-style, of how dangerous it is to live or visit Ottawa Hills. But apparently, he takes a head-in-the-sand approach to his town. 

Last year, Burris "wrote":http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2014/05/20/Sykes-wrong-but-profiling-by-race-is-real.html :

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At the last Community Coalition forum, Harold Mosley stood up during the question period. He’s a retired policeman and is black. He said his son, a good kid, is hassled constantly. *The worst place, he said, is Ottawa Hills.*

People tell me if a black kid walks or drives down Indian Road in Ottawa Hills, he’s virtually sure to be stopped by the police. *I live on that street. ++I am glad it is well patrolled.++ I understand +police vigilance+ can look a lot like +profiling.+*
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Burris is thankful for "police vigilance" in patrolling his street in Ottawa Hills.

He's upset that Woodville police ticket law-breaking motorists who drive more than 10 mph over the speed limit, but it appears that he has no problem with Ottawa Hills police possibly harassing people who are not breaking any laws.

Burris also wrote in that May 2014 column:

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But surely it is possible to do good police work without profiling. Racial profiling should be totally unacceptable in 2014. It’s disgraceful. And if you say it doesn’t exist, that’s a lie too.
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I think that I understand. When police in other communities do their job, it's called racial profiling. But in your town, it's called police vigilance.

And if this is true: _"... if a black kid walks or drives down Indian Road in Ottawa Hills, he’s virtually sure to be stopped by the police."_

Then that's magnitudes worse than an alleged speed trap.

Burris wrote the following in his Feb 15, 2015 "column":http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2015/02/15/Woodville-Worst-little-town-in-Ohio.html about Woodville, but it seems like it could apply to where Burris lives:

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I would like to see Attorney General Mike DeWine impose a minimal standard of training for police officers in Ohio. If he feels he hasn’t that authority, then we need new state legislation.

I just hope some state legislator in northwest Ohio has the guts to introduce such a bill.

But the broader issues are bullying and self-respect. This is a town *[Ottawa Hills]* whose authority structure is built on bullying.

The citizens of *[Ottawa Hills]* must, at some point say: “Enough!” They need to replace the leadership team in town, starting with the mayor and police chief. This is what democracy is about: Out with the old and failed. In with fresh blood so there can be a new start.

It’s a matter of self-respect.

The people of *[Ottawa Hills]* must reform their town government — or resign themselves to living in a town that has disgraced itself and that people seek only to avoid.
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 #media #moronism